Lions hold on after big lead chipped away

James Alle, Times Union

By James Allen

Published 11:43 pm, Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Mekeel Christian Academy's Mano Senthil goes in for a basket during their boy's high school basketball game against Berne-Knox Westerlo on Wednesday Jan. 15, 2014 in Scotia, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Mekeel Christian Academy's Damonte White goes in for a basket during their boy's high school basketball game against Berne-Knox Westerlo on Wednesday Jan. 15, 2014 in Scotia, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Mekeel Christian Academy's Damonte White goes in for a basket...

Mekeel Christian Academy's Damonte White goes in for a basket during their boy's high school basketball game against Berne-Knox Westerlo on Wednesday Jan. 15, 2014 in Scotia, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Mekeel Christian Academy's Damonte White goes in for a basket...

Mekeel Christian Academy's Mano Senthil drives to the basket during their boy's high school basketball game against Berne-Knox Westerlo on Wednesday Jan. 15, 2014 in Scotia, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Berne-Knox Westerlo's Justin Lee goes to the basket during their boy's high school basketball game against Mekeel Christian Academy on Wednesday Jan. 15, 2014 in Scotia, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

The Mekeel Christian Academy boys' basketball team found itself in dire need of a boost late in the fourth quarter Wednesday night — a shocking revelation considering how things began for the Lions.

Mano Senthil, the lone senior on the roster, worked his way from one side of the court to the other, caught a pass from Herbie Sexton and squared up for a 3-pointer. Splash.

"I just shot it. I didn't really think about it," Senthil said. "I was open. It was a good pass."

Senthil's clutch 3-pointer with 2:28 remaining stemmed the tide against a pesky Berne-Knox-Westerlo contingent. The Lions went on to register a 56-50 victory in Western Athletic Conference play.

"We ran him off three screens. It was important," Mekeel Christian Academy coach Chad Bowman said of Senthil's 3-pointer that extended the lead to 54-43.

Senthil finished with 18 points and five assists. Sexton contributed six points, 10 rebounds and seven assists (six in the first half).

The Lions (8-0, 6-0) appeared poised to administer a lopsided beating as MCA owned a 25-4 cushion with 4:55 remaining in the second quarter. At that juncture, B-K-W (6-3, 4-1) had committed 12 turnovers and MCA had none — compared to seven assists.

But the Lions' attack dissipated from that point on. Even the positives became negative as the Lions made just 4 of 18 attempts from the foul line.

"They are momentum killers," Bowman said.

"It is one of the worst games I've seen, honestly. We came out strong defensively, but throughout the game we didn't have any flow offensively," Senthil said. "We came out flat in the second half, which has been happening. We have to turn that around."

Berne-Knox-Westerlo coach Tim Moseman had a simple halftime message: "Beat them in the second half."